"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré

The Grauniad wrote:The "great chieftan o' the puddin-race" was one of earliest casualties of the BSE (that would be BOVINE spongiform encephalopathy) crisis of the 1980s-90s, banned on health grounds by the US authorities in 1989 because they feared its main ingredient ‑ minced SHEEP (that would be OVINE) offal ‑ could prove lethal.

The prion-transmitted disease of the central nervous system in sheep is called scrapie, and has been about since the 18th century. It does not appear to be transmissible to humans. Americans seem to be very good at separating churches from states, but not so good at separating cows from sheep.

Twisty Puss wrote:Oh Goody! Now Roy can visit!

Now that the guy who got the most votes gets to be the President (ie the USA is a functioning democracy, like Pakistan or Khazakstan, but not Iraq or Afghanistan), I feel free to return there. I just need to save up the fares is all.

"I don't mean to sound bitter, cynical or cruel; but I am, so that's how it comes out." ~ Bill Hicks."To argue with a person who has renounced reason is like administering medicine to the dead." ~ Thomas Paine."One should not believe everything one reads on the internet." ~ Abraham Lincoln."I linked the number of MPs to the number of votes. If you'd done a real Science degree you'd understand sticking to the point." ~ daftbeaker.

BrewDog, a brewery based out of Fraserburgh, Scotland, has introduced the new official record holder for beer with the highest alcohol content by volume. Sink the Bismark!, described as a "quadruple IPA," has an alcohol content of 41%. By comparison, vodka and whiskey typically have a 40% alcohol content. Perhaps most entertaining about this story is the reaction from the Scottish anti-alcoholism group Alcohol Focus Scotland:

Over the past few months BrewDog have continued to produce stronger and stronger beers. By commenting on this irresponsible brewing practice we only serve to add to their marketing and therefore we have no further comment to make.

Auntie wrote:The fast food chain says it packs 540 calories but other testers claim a figure near 1,200 is more accurate.

Where do the extra 660 calories come from? The stupid? I knew that stupid was stupid, I didn't know it was also fattening. Do we need to put a warning label on the Daily Mail and election literature now?

Roy Hunter wrote:PKMKII's favourite brewers, Brewdog, have a new contender for strongest, most expensive and most offensively packaged beer: End of History.

Awesome idea

I fail to see the issue if the animals have died of natural causes. On the alcohol front, at 55% that's going to be like a whisky. Pricing that at £500 is a very responsible approach, bearing in mind you could pick up an equivalent amount of alcohol for under a tenner at a supermarket

Scotsmen: I was watching an episode of Come Dine with Me (the show that always has a stogy old fart who wants everything the way grandma made, the young, experimental guy, a suzy homemaker, and an "ethnic" contestant) set in Aberdeen, and one of them made Cullen Skink:How is it? Good? Bad? I'd imagine it has a flavor somewhere on par with New England Clam Chowda.

Cullen Skink is absolutely beautiful if made with decent Arbroath Smokies by someone who knows what they are doing. If it is made by a classic French-trained chef who wants to *adapt* or *modernise* it, it can be disgusting. Believe me, I've tried both.

My only experience of New England chowders is reading Moby Dick, but I imagine it is very similar - fishing village / town soup with winter vegetables and milk - available all year round, see?

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré